Gaming is good for you! Playing video games can make you brainer! Get svelte with Sonic. Though the previous sentences sound a little like cheap tabloid headlines, in fact the research suggests that they are true. Video games can have a positive impact on your health, in a surprising number of ways.
Firstly, video games can be good for your brain. They can, for a start, improve the size and strength of the brain areas that are associated with important skills such as spatial awareness and planning and problem solving. As well as this, games can improve your memory and recall, particularly if you play 3D platform games, according to the studies. Video games can also improve your cognitive health in other ways, for example by making you happier. For example, gaming has been shown to increase self-esteem and social connections in the elderly who live in retirement communities.
Games can also, quite literally, help you to get over a trauma. Studies have been conducted on those who have recently undergone surgery, and those who have faced a traumatic event. In both instances, gaming was shown to speed up recovery, and to reduce the occurrence of flashbacks and negative side effects of the trauma.
Sonic can’t make you svelte, but if you want to get fit, exergaming may help. Exergames, which include Wii Fit, keep you active and can help you to get fit. In fact, the National Institute of Health conducted a metaanalysis of studies, and found that exergaming can increase physical activity exponentially, so it could be useful in combatting childhood obesity, and help to eradicate the sedentary lifestyle that is common in contemporary society.
So, when you see headlines about gaming, obviously you shouldn’t take them at face value. However, neither should you dismiss them out of hand.
To find out more about the amazing benefits of gaming, see the infographic below that has been provided by our friends at Computer Planet.
